A SCHOOLGIRL was attacked by a man who pulled her blazer and put his hand over her mouth.

Detectives are appealing for information after a man attempted to grab a schoolgirl in Ophir Road, North End, at about 8.20am today.

Hampshire police say the girl managed to run away from the man.

The girl was unharmed but shaken by the incident.

He is described as a white man with tanned skin, in his late 30s or early 40s, about 6ft and stocky with dark brown eyes and ‘chapped’ lips.

He was described as wearing a black Nike tracksuit with white ‘tick’ logo with a white T-shirt underneath; black gloves; a balaclava and white and black leather Adidas trainers.

A cordon that was placed in Ophir Road while detectives carried out investigations, including house-to-house enquiries, has now been lifted.

Police say extra officers have been put on patrol to provide reassurance to people.

Det Inspector Adam Price said: ‘Although incidents like this are worrying, they are rare and we are working hard to identify the man responsible.

‘This does appear to be an isolated incident and we have not received any other reports of this nature.

‘We would like to hear from anyone who was in the Ophir Road area this morning, who may have witnessed this incident, and in particular we would like to hear from anyone who saw a man matching the description of the suspect hanging around the area.

‘The girl did the right thing by running away and alerting a friend’s parent, who called police.

‘I would like to ask parents to remind their children of the stranger danger message, to remain alert, not alarmed, and to report any incidents to us.’

Anyone with any information is asked to call Eastern CID on 101 or anonymously via the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.